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Monday, July 13, 2026

Gel Printed Dragonfly Page

Hello friends! It is Monday again and I hope you had a great weekend. I had fun crafting and walking this weekend.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.


This week we have a Play with Paint theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Fun! Any paint will do: acrylic, watercolor, and so on. Don't miss the project by our July guest Rox aka Red Dirt Crafter.

Layers of ink - Gel Printed Dragonfly Page tutorial by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

It has been a very long time since I did gel printing so I decided to play with acrylic paint and made a whole lot of gel printed backgrounds. I had fun and created lots of papers for future projects. It is hard to stop! I used three of the printed papers for this art journal page, done in my Dylusions Small Creative Journal.

Gelli Arts gel printing plate.


Emboss papers.

Before printing, I embossed watercolor paper with various Simon Says Stamp Embossing Folders, since that is one of my favorite techniques of adding texture and patterns while gel printing. I forgot to include some of the papers here.

Print the papers on the gel printing plate.

Brayer acrylic paint on the plate, and press the embossed papers into the paint. Repeat with different colors and combine different folders. I used a couple of stencils too namely: Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles and Dot Petal Pattern. 


These are just some of the papers, I made a lot more. 


I had a hard time picking which papers to use and ended up with these two and later an additional paper. Embossing folders used here were Simon Says Stamp Stitching Sampler, Swirled Ridges, Butterfly Burst, Bubble Rings and Everlasting Flowers.

Stamp images on printed paper.

I stamped the dragonfly from Stamper's Anonymous Classics #1 on another gel printed paper, where you can for example see the Simon Says Stamp Star Lattice folder in the background. A small dragonfly from Simon Says Stamp Loving Thoughts was also stamped on the paper.

Die cut Tim Holtz Bulletin.

The title was die cut from the paper with the butterflies and the rings, using Sizzix Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Bulletin letters. I also die cut them from Simon Says Stamp Holographic cardstock. As you can see, the wrong die set ended up in this photo: Tim Holtz Sizzix Picture Show, which was used to die cut the film strip.

Stamp with Tim Holtz School Desk.

The background was stamped with sentiments from Stamper's Anonymous Classics #5 and Tim Holtz Simple Sayings, as well as with my favorite alphabet stamp from Tim Holtz School Desk.


I die cut the film strip from Simon Says Stamp Acetate and colored with alcohol ink: Teakwood and Pitch Black. Paper Hugs comes from Simon Says Stamp Love Letter.


One of my favorite sentiments.

Gel printed letters.

The Bulletin Letters are large and with a thin outline, which gives them so many possible uses. You can also use the outline on its own. 

Die cut using Tim Holtz Picture Show.

I stamped small words and numbers from Simon Says Stamp Big Botanicals and Tim Holtz Correspondence in the openings of the film strip. The sequins are Simon Says Stamp Cream Puffs.

Add Stickles.

I added a little Stickles Star Dust to the dragonflies.

Layers of ink - Art journal pages.


Join us this week in our Play with Paint challenge! You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.



Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.





Thank you so much for visiting today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.



Monday, July 6, 2026

Read Layout

Hi crafters! I hope your weekend was good and with some crafty time. 

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.


This week we have a Back to School theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us and don't miss the project by our July guest designer Rox aka Red Dirt Crafter.

Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is showcasing products by a specific designer / company and this week it is 49 and Market. You can find all their stunning paper products here. You don't have to use 49 and Market products to join, but it is fun if you do.

Layers of ink - Read Layout by Anna-Karin Evaldsson.

I made a scrapbooking layout this week, using an old school photo. I had fun playing around with pretty papers and ephemera and used 49 and Market: Faded Memory Lane Ephemera, Faded Memory Lane Chipboard, Faded Memory Lane Laser Wild Flowers and Travel Diaries Laser Cut Elements. All I added was a die cut title, buttons and lots of stitching.

Stitch the 49 and Market items.

I started by arranging various papers from 49 and Market Faded Memory Lane Ephemera on Simon Says Stamp Soft Navy Blue cardstock. The edges were distressed and inked. I stitched them to the background with my sewing machine, using a mix of straight and zig-zag stitching. The ephemera kit has 118 pieces, both larger and smaller, and lots of great sentiments.


I also used Faded Memory Lane Chipboard, such as this sentiment. The edges were sanded and some of them were inked.


The butterfly comes from Faded Memories Laser Cut Wild Flowers, fold up the wings.


More chipboard pieces. The vintage buttons were stitched to the background with DMC floss.


This faded coneflower print is so pretty! 

Add 49 and Market Travel Diaries Laser Cut Elements.

For the learning and reading theme, I for example added this pile of books and a globe from Travel Diaries Laser Cut elements. The edges were sanded. I also stitched two charms to the background. A key because reading opens doors and a plant, to fit with the floral theme. Isn't 'paper dreams' the perfect sentiments. Already from a very young age, I loved paper products.

Add 49 and Market Travel Diaries.

I added Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Perfect Foam Tape behind one end of the banner, to give it dimension. Foam tape was also placed under the stack of books. The butterfly comes from Faded Memory Lane Laser Wild Flowers.

Die cut letters with Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Stretch Upper.

The title was die cut with Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Stretch Upper from Blue Palette Paper 8x8 in. I also added a map, folded, inked and shaped with foam tape, an open book and more chipboard elements, all from Faded Memory Lane. 

Add 49 and Market Faded Memory Lane.

Fold the book ephemera and shape. Add foam tape behind the covers and glue only along the spine.


I always liked ruler elements. 

Join us this week in our Back to School challenge! You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.



Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.





Thank you so much for visiting today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.